The perfect "Nose" job

BURLINGTON Russian writer Nikolai Gogol had a very big nose. According to Vladimir Nabokov, Gogols big sharp nose was of such length and flexibility that, in the days of his youth, he had been able to bring its tip and his underlip in ghoulish contact. References to smelling, sneezing, and snoring run throughout Gogols work, but his 1836 short story, The Nose, is the ultimate nasal narrative. In Gogols tale, an unshaven Petersburg barbera terrible drunkard like every decent Russian artisandiscovers a civil servants nose in a loaf of freshly-baked bread. The nose takes on a pious life of its own, even acting as a snooty state councillor,until it finally reattaches itself to its owner about two weeks later. Aaron Masi, Director of the Green Candle Theatre Company, has adapted Gogols supernatural story into magical theater, and Masi recently insinuated his Nose into Burlingtons FlynnSpace. Alex Dostie was superb as the befuddled barber, Ethan Alsruhe excellent as the pretentious civil servant, and Josh Bridgman hilarious as the nearly-naked runaway nose. Dreamlike white-mask makeup, colorful quasi-Cossack costumes, constant interaction with the audience, and NoseKestras lively music enhanced the production immensely. Although Gogols schnoz story lends itself to various Freudian and non-Freudian interpretations, Gogol himself would probably have thumbed his nose at any such analysis. Perfect nonsense goes on in the world, Gogol said, Say what you like, but such incidents do happen in the worldrarely, but they do happen. Rare also is Aaron Masi and the Green Candle Theatre Companys creative and humorous Nose job.